Murderer recounts
2 shootingsA Big Isle man testifies how he
and another man killed for drugs
HILO >> Confessed murderer Kyle Zengy Hill testified yesterday that he and John McGovern shot and killed two friends in a rural Puna subdivision south of Hilo.
CORRECTION
Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003>> The last name of attorney Keith Shigetomi was misspelled as Shigetome yesterday in a Page A3 article.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
In a firm, clear voice, Hill recounted how he and McGovern planned and carried out the execution-style shootings of Cassidy Matthew Toole and Wesley Alan Matheson in May 2002 to steal the victims' drugs.
COURTESY OF HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Kyle Hill took the stand yesterday in Hilo to testify for the prosecution against his former friend, John McGovern.
Hill has pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and weapons charges in the slayings.
He testified yesterday in McGovern's first-degree murder trial in Hawaii District Court as part of a plea agreement that would give Hill life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
According to Hill's testimony, the two hatched their plot a few days earlier, after visiting Toole and Matheson's house.
Hill said that Matheson possessed alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), a "manmade designer drug."
He testified that he and McGovern decided to "get a gun, go out to their house and kill them for the drugs. We'd get rid of the bodies and take the drugs to our house."
"I'd shoot Wes," said Hill, "then give the gun to John and he'd shoot Cas."
Initially Hill only wanted to steal the drugs, he said, but McGovern insisted on killing them because "we don't want them coming back after us."
Hill, then 19, described how he and McGovern, then 18, began hitchhiking to Toole and Matheson's house, with McGovern carrying his .22 caliber rifle in a duffle bag.
After they arrived at the victims' house, Hill and McGovern began target shooting in the yard, he testified. They shot about 25 rounds outside, then joined the other two men in the house.
"I asked Wes to come outside and show me the chameleon in the cage. I picked up the gun on the way out and shot him in the back of the neck," Hill said.
He went inside and gave the rifle to McGovern, who shot Toole while he sat on the couch.
"Then I reloaded the gun," said Hill, "and went outside to see if Wes was alive."
He testified Toole was lying on his back, convulsing, but he "couldn't shoot him again."
"I gave the gun to John and he shot Wes," said Hill.
He said they laid a tarp in Toole's van and threw the bodies in.
They drove to an isolated lot a few blocks away and dragged the bodies into the brush. After a stop at the local garbage dump to get rid of the bloody tarp, they returned to the victims' house, Hill said.
"John found a small quantity of AMT in the refrigerator," testified Hill. "We also took some keiki pakalolo plants and left in (Matheson's) Honda."
The two fled to Kona, Hill said, intending to establish an alibi that they were in West Hawaii.
Driving back home the next day, Hill said they slid off the road near South Point, crashed the car and eventually made their way back to Puna via a combination of public bus and hitchhiking.
"We went back to finish robbing the house. We took a barbecue grill, rugs, house things, pakalolo plants," he said.
They returned to the house "three or four times," taking the stolen goods back to their house in Toole's van.
Matheson's mother offered a reward for information on her son's disappearance. Hill, hoping to collect the $3,000, met with her at the end of May and drew her a map to the bodies.
Police arrested Hill on June 5, 2002. He pleaded guilty in November 2002, with a sentencing date pending.
McGovern's attorney, Keith Shigetome, will continue cross-examining Hill today.
